A BILL to amend and reenact §8-10-2b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §17B-3-3c and
§17B-3-9 of said code, all relating to the powers and duties
of municipal courts; failure to appear for municipal court
hearings; failure to pay municipal court fines and fees;
cancellation, suspension and revocation of driver's licenses;
notice by municipality to Tax Commissioner; payment of fines
and fees from state income tax refund; administration fee of
Tax Commissioner; allocation of income tax refund;
promulgation of rules by Tax Commissioner; suspension of
license to continue until fees, fines and reinstatement fee
paid; and reissuance of notice by municipality.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:That §8-10-2b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §17B-3-3c and §17B-3-9 of said
code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

ARTICLE 10. POWERS AND DUTIES OF CERTAIN OFFICERS.

§8-10-2b. Suspension of licenses for failure to pay fines and
costs or failure to appear in court.

(a) If costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties imposed by the
municipal court upon conviction of a person for a criminal offense
as defined in section three-c, article three, chapter seventeen-b
of this code are not paid in full within one hundred eighty days of
the judgment, the municipal court clerk or, upon a judgment
rendered on appeal, the circuit clerk shall notify the Division of
Motor Vehicles of suchthe failure to pay: Provided, That at the
time the judgment is imposed, the judge shall provide the person
with written notice that failure to pay the same as ordered may
result in the withholding of any income tax refund due the licensee
and shall result in the suspension of suchthe person's license or
privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state and that such
the suspension could result in the cancellation of, the failure to
renew or the failure to issue an automobile insurance policy
providing coverage for suchthe person or suchthe person's family:
Provided, however, That the failure of the judge to provide such
notice shalldoes not affect the validity of any suspension of such
the person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state. For purposes of this section, payment shall be stayed
during any period an appeal from the conviction which resulted in
the imposition of such costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties is
pending.
Upon such notice, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall suspend
the person's driver's license or privilege to operate a motor
vehicle in this state until such time that the costs, fines,
forfeitures or penalties are paid.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the
contrary, the notice of the failure to pay such costs, fines,
forfeitures or penalties shallmay not be given where the municipal
court, upon application of the person upon whom the samecosts,
fines, forfeitures or penalties were imposed filed prior to the
expiration of the period within which the samethese are required
to be paid, enters an order finding that suchthe person is
financially unable to pay all or a portion of the samecosts,
fines, forfeitures or penalties:Provided, That where the
municipal court, upon finding that the person is financially unable
to pay a portion thereofof the costs, fines, forfeitures or
penalties, requires the person to pay the remaining portion,
thereof the municipal court shall notify the Division of Motor
Vehicles of suchthe person's failure to pay the same if the same
isif not paid within the period of time ordered by suchthe court.
(c) If a person charged with a criminal offense fails to
appear or otherwise respond in court, the municipal court clerk
shall notify the Division of Motor Vehicles thereof within fifteen
days of the scheduled date to appear unless suchthe person sooner
appears or otherwise responds in court to the satisfaction of the
judge. Upon such notice, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
suspend the person's driver's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state until such time that the person appears
as required.(d) On and after the first day of July, two thousand eight, if
the licensee fails to respond to the Division of Motor Vehicles
order of suspension within ninety days of receipt of the certified
letter, the municipal court of original jurisdiction shall notify
the Tax Commissioner that the licensee has failed to pay the fines
assessed by the court or has failed to respond to the citation.
The notice provided by the municipal court to the Tax Commissioner
must include the licensee's social security number. The Tax
Commissioner, or his or her designee, shall withhold from any
personal income tax refund due and owing to a licensee, the fees or
fines due to the municipality, the Tax Commissioner's
administration fee for the withholding and any and all fees that
the municipal court would have collected had the licensee appeared:
Provided, That the Tax Commissioner's administration fee may not
exceed twenty-five dollars: Provided however, That the Tax
Commissioner may change this maximum amount limitation for this fee
for fiscal years beginning on or after the first day of July, two
thousand eight, by legislative rule promulgated in accordance with
the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code. After deduction of the Tax Commissioner's administration
fee, the Tax Commissioner shall remit to the municipality all
remaining amounts withheld pursuant to this section and the
municipal court shall distribute applicable fines and fees owed to
the municipality, the Regional Jail Authority Fund, the Crime Victims Compensation Fund, the Community Corrections Fund, the
Governor's subcommittee on law-enforcement training or any other
fund or payee that may be applicable. After the fees and fines are
withheld, the Tax Commissioner shall refund any remaining balance
due the licensee. If the refund is not sufficient to cover all the
fees and fines being withheld pursuant to this section, the Tax
Commissioner's administration fee shall be retained by the Tax
Commissioner, and the remaining money withheld shall be remitted by
the Tax Commissioner to the municipality. The municipality shall
then allocate the money so remitted to the municipality in the
following manner: (1) Any fees or fines due to the municipality;
(2) seventy-five percent of the remaining balance shall be paid to
the appropriate Regional Jail Authority Fund; (3) fifteen percent
of the remaining balance shall be paid to the Crime Victims
Compensation Fund; (4) six percent of the remaining balance shall
be paid into the Community Corrections Fund; and (5) the final four
percent shall be paid to the Governor's subcommittee on law-
enforcement training. When the fees and fines exceed the
licensee's income tax refund, the Tax Commissioner shall withhold
the remaining balance in subsequent years until such time as the
fees and fines owed are paid in full. The Tax Commissioner shall
remit the moneys that he or she collects to the appropriate
municipality no later than the first day of July of each year.(e) Rulesand effective date. - The Tax Commissioner may
promulgate such rules as may be useful or necessary to carry out
the purpose of this section and to implement the intent of the Legislature, to be effective on the first day of July, two thousand
eight. Rules shall be promulgated in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.(f) On or before the first day of July, two thousand five, the
municipal court may elect to reissue notice as provided in
subsections (a) and (c) of this section to the Division of Motor
Vehicles for persons who remain noncompliant: Provided, That the
person was convicted or failed to appear on or after the first day
of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three. If the
original notification cannot be located, the Division of Motor
Vehicles shall accept an additional or duplicate notice from the
municipal court clerk.

CHAPTER 17B. MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER'S LICENSES.

ARTICLE 3. CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSES.

§17B-3-3c. Suspending license for failure to pay fines or penalties
imposed as the result of criminal conviction or for
failure to appear in court.

(a) The Division shall suspend the license of any resident of
this state or the privilege of a nonresident to drive a motor
vehicle in this state upon receiving notice from a circuit court,
magistrate court or municipal court of this state, pursuant to
section two-b, article three, chapter fifty of this code or section
two-b, article ten, chapter eight of said code or section
seventeen, article four, chapter sixty-two of said code, that such
person has defaulted on the payment of costs, fines, forfeitures, penalties or restitution imposed on the person by the circuit
court, magistrate court or municipal court upon conviction for any
criminal offense by the date such court had required such person to
pay the same, or that such person has failed to appear in court
when charged with such an offense. For the purposes of this
section; section two-b, article three, chapter fifty of said code;
section two-b, article ten, chapter eight of said code; and section
seventeen, article four, chapter sixty-two of said code, "criminal
offense" shall be defined as any violation of the provisions of
this code, or the violation of any municipal ordinance, for which
the violation thereof may result in a fine, confinement in jail or
imprisonment in the penitentiarya correctional facility of this
state: Provided, That any parking violation or other violation for
which a citation may be issued to an unattended vehicle shall not
be considered a criminal offense for the purposes of this section;
section two-b, article ten, chapter eight of said code; section
two-b, article three, chapter fifty of said code; or section
seventeen, article four, chapter sixty-two of said code.
(b) A copy of the order of suspension shall be forwarded to
such person by certified mail, return receipt requested. No order
of suspension becomes effective until ten days after receipt of a
copy of such order. The order of suspension shall advise the
person that because of the receipt of notice of the failure to pay
costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties, or the failure to appear,
a presumption exists that the person named in the order of
suspension is the same person named in the notice. The Commissioner may grant an administrative hearing which
substantially complies with the requirements of the provisions of
section two, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of this code upon
a preliminary showing that a possibility exists that the person
named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose
license is being suspended. Such request for hearing shall be made
within ten days after receipt of a copy of the order of suspension.
The sole purpose of this hearing shall be for the person requesting
the hearing to present evidence that he or she is not the person
named in the notice. In the event the Commissioner grants an
administrative hearing, the Commissioner shall stay the license
suspension pending the Commissioner's order resulting from the
hearing.(c) A suspension under this section and section three-a of
this chapter will continue until the person provides proof of
compliance from the municipal, magistrate or circuit court and pays
the reinstatement fee as provided in section nine of this article.
The reinstatement fee is assessed upon issuance of the order of
suspension regardless of the effective date of suspension.
§17B-3-9. Surrender and return of license not required.The Division, upon suspending or revoking a license, shallmay
not require that the license be surrendered to and be retained by
the Division. The surrender of a license shallmay not be a
precondition to the commencement and tolling of any applicable
period of suspension or revocation: Provided, That before the
license may be reinstated, the licensee shall pay a fee of fifteenfifty dollars, in addition to all other fees and charges, which
shall be collected by the Division and deposited in a special
revolving fund to be appropriated to the Division for use in the
enforcement of the provisions of this section. Provided, however,
That when any license is suspended for failure to maintain motor
vehicle liability insurance the reinstatement fee is fifty dollars

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a way that
municipalities, the Regional Jail Authority, the Crime Victims
Compensation Fund, the West Virginia Community Corrections Fund and
the Governor's Subcommittee on Law-Enforcement Training can recover
moneys for fines and fees that are currently not collectable due to
failure to appear in municipal courts.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)